Star Citizen, the crowd-funded space combat sim from Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts, finally becomes playable on May 29 with the release of the Arena Commander component. So far, the most players have been able to do with the pre-release game is wander around a personal hangar. Arena Commander introduces actual space flight with the help of an in-hangar simulator that opens into an assortment of single-player and multiplayer dogfighting modes.
Roberts’ latest post on Star Citizen‘s official website confirms that every single backer of the game will be able to access Arena Commander’s single-player “Free Flight” and “Vanduul Swarm” modes on day one. The first batch of multiplayer testers will also be able to try out some of the PvP, with more players to be added as stability improves.
Star Citizen is still in active development, so the May 29 plan may change. Roberts runs through a projected schedule for the next two weeks, but he readily admits that unforeseen obstacles may push the plans back. “Were close enough the we feel fairly confident in this date,” he writes.
The game continues to grow in a way that defies all expectations, with crowd-supplied funding crossing past the $40 million mark earlier this year.
